An exclusive report published this week by industry publication Legal Business has revealed that King & Wood Mallesons has been engaged in merger talks with Morgan Lewis on and off for the last few months. KWM has reportedly been pressing for the negotiations to advance over the last few weeks amid ongoing turbulence in and a string of partner exits from its European arm. However, the source behind the report – who is reportedly a Morgan Lewis partner – said that the recent departure of City funds partner Michael Halford has placed a strain on the talks. Neither firm has yet commented on the reported negotiations.
CMS Cameron McKenna talks
Morgan Lewis is a top 20 US law firm with over 520 equity partners, revenues around $1.84bn in 2015 and profit per equity partner (PEP) of $1.54m. The firm has also been courted for a merger by CMS Cameron McKenna, though the Morgan Lewis source said a tie-up between the two firms was unlikely: ‘[There] are partners in the US who feel CMS partner are in a different standard to Morgan Lewis, plus there’s the issue with the German arm,’ they said.
Sources: Legal Business; Australasian Lawyer
Email your news and story ideas to: [email protected]
